CJ Hobgood and Ricardo Do Santos step into Round 4 at Billabong Pro Tahiti
America’s CJ Hobgood and Brazil’s Ricardo Dos Santos secured their place in the fourth round of Billabong Pro Tahiti, the fifth of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, after putting on a superb performance
to claim victory in their respective Round 3 heats that went down at Teahupo’o in Taiarapu, Tahiti, on Sunday, August 26.
Hobgood got the better of Tahiti’s Michel Bourez in the fifth heat to advance to the next round while sending his rival out of the contention for the event title.
The sixth heat featured the biggest upset of the day as Dos Santos took the win over America’s Kelly Slater to make the Round 4 cut while eliminated the latter from the competition.
Pitted against the local talent Bourez in the fifth heat, Hobgood surely had his work cut out for him. His rival was definitely more learned about the conditions at hand and was bound to give him a tough time.
As the battle got underway, the American surfer got off to an energetic start and wasted very little time to turn the odds against his rival. Getting hold of a couple of excellent waves, he ended up registering a heat-total of 18.30 points.
Bourez had no intention of going down without putting up a strong fight and that is exactly what he did. However, he was unable to go beyond a two-wave total of 15.17 points, which forced him to concede victory to Hobgood.
The next heat ended up an extremely unlikely outcome. Dos Santos, event wild-card entry, was up against the 11-time reigning ASP World Tour Champion Slater in a man-on-man battle for the Round 4 spot.
As the battle got underway, Slater opened up with an exquisite 9.17-point ride to put his rival under pressure and went on to back it up with a 7.27-point ride, thus finishing with a heat-total of 16.44 points.
Dos got off to a slow start, but gradually built momentum to eventually post an 8.47 on the score-board. Needing a big score in the final minutes of the heat, the Brazilian surfer stepped-up to score a 9.87 off his second business-wave, finishing with a
decisive heat-total of 18.34 points to clinch the win.
“That wave came to me at the very end and I was just hoping for a chance to show what I can do,” Dos Santos said. “That wave was so good and it just allowed me to pull in early and keep running through it. That was my last chance – it was either make it
or go home. I knew I had to get the best waves and get as deep as I can. I knew Kelly [Slater] was going to post high scores so I just had to do my best.”
The result indeed took everyone by surprise while at the same time indicating just what one is capable of achieving through a bit of confidence and determination.
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